Progeria: Quando o Relógio Biológico Dispara Acelerado
by Anne Hammarskjöld, Karolinska Institutet
edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Alexander Pol
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Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a genetic disorder that causes remarkable premature aging. Most patients die during their teenage years from cardiovascular disease, but the precise mechanisms underlying vascular damage remain unclear.
In the new study published in Genome Medicine, researchers from Karolinska Institutet analyzed cells from the aorta of mice carrying the same genetic mutation found in people with progeria. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, which enables gene activity to be studied in individual cells, they tracked how the vascular wall changes over time. In total, nearly 9,000 cells from mice of different ages were analyzed.
"This approach allows us to follow, step by step, how different cell types are affected throughout the course of the disease," says Maria Eriksson, professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet.
Reduced numbers of smooth muscle cells
The researchers focused particularly on vascular smooth muscle cells, which provide blood vessels with strength and elasticity and are essential for normal vascular function. They observed that these cells gradually declined in number.
"Smooth muscle cells are progressively lost both in HGPS and during normal aging. As these cells die, the vessel wall becomes weaker and more susceptible to disease," says Lara Garcia Merino, doctoral student at the same department and first author of the study.
The study also showed that smooth muscle cells accumulated more so-called somatic mutations, meaning genetic alterations that arise during an individual's lifetime. The mutation burden was associated with increased cellular stress and activation of genes involved in DNA damage responses.
"This is the first evidence that the accumulation of somatic mutations is a hallmark of vascular disease in HGPS," says Eriksson.
Revealing a new mechanism
The findings link DNA damage to cellular stress, loss of cellular identity and cell death, thereby revealing a previously unrecognized mechanism driving irreversible vascular injury.
The researchers also found evidence that changes in cell behavior may be influenced by signaling between different cell types within the vessel wall, suggesting that the process is not driven solely by alterations within individual cells.
"We see that cells undergo multiple changes over time, from stress to identity changes and ultimately cell death. Our results suggest that several different mechanisms interact in the development of vascular damage in progeria," says Garcia Merino.
The researchers believe that the findings may contribute to a better understanding of how vascular damage develops in progeria and underline the importance of initiating treatment early, before irreversible DNA damage has accumulated.
"New gene-editing approaches can correct the disease-causing mutation in HGPS, but correcting the mutation alone is unlikely to reverse damage in cells that have already accumulated a large number of somatic mutations. Early intervention is therefore essential," says Eriksson.
The study also provides new insights into the biological processes underlying normal vascular aging. Several important similarities exist between HGPS and the cardiovascular disease that affects the general population. HGPS is therefore widely used as a model for understanding normal aging and vascular disease.
The researchers emphasize that further studies are needed to confirm the findings in humans.
Lara G. Merino et al, Single-cell analysis of the progeria arterial wall reveals progerin-induced progressive, cell type-specific dysfunction and somatic mutation accumulation, Genome Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1186/s13073-026-01719-6
Journal information: Genome Medicine
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